Hi guys,
Its finally cold enough that i want a pair of Pogies for kayaking. I was out on Saturday in a strong wind and finally got cold hands.
My main concern is a pair with a large wrist hole that is easy to enter/exit. I typically am a size Large glove. Overall warmth is not too important, I’ll be in SoCal waters so 55* water with 50* air and a 10-30mph wind for typical conditions. Nothing freezing.
My main concern is a pair with good material/construction and easy entry on the water. I’ve looked at NRS, Kokatat, Level6, Sanp dragon, shred ready, and more but the reviews are often contradictory. Can you all recommend a pair that fits the ‘easy on/ easy off (large wrist hole) with good build quality’ criteria?
I use pogies here in the northern FL winters on my ‘daily’ pre-dawn paddles (when it’s below 60, and it’s rarely below 40).
First of all, in general, 2 types: nylon and neoprene (or the like).
nylon:
light (easy to pack)
you may need to pull the 2nd one on with your mouth
when wet, more difficult to put on
(so, in the duration of a paddle, if you often have to access things, or even just scratch your nose, you will spend a little extra time putting them back on
neoprene (or the like)
warmer than nylon
easy on/off
Snap Dragon makes a pogie out of ‘Hypalon rubber’, lighter that neoprne, but is warm
Also, for me, better because I get some sort of ‘allergic’ reaction to neoprene on my hands (arthritis?).
I prefer the nylon if I don’t have to ‘scratch the nose’ or if not to ‘spashy’ (pogies get wet), otherwise the SnapDragon ‘Hyper Hands’
I am in NorCal, and the pogies I have (all neoprene) are all too warm for me. In general, they seem to meet what you are looking for (easy entrance/exit of your hands).
SnapDragon HyperHands. I have large hands and love them. Big stiff wrist opening means you can slip in and out super easily. And very warm. Like magic heaters.
G’day…I recommend NRS Toaster pogies. If you check out the thicknesses of all the brands: Snap Dragon, Kokatat, Level Six, etc…, you’ll see that the NRS pogies are 5mm thick whereas the others are only 3mm thick. The NRS pogies keep my hands dry and really toasty—as the name implies. The NRS pogies do not cost more than the other name brands out there even though they are thicker. Worth the money($46) spent to keep your digits nice and warm…
Thanks everyone. I went with the Snapdragon Hyperhands because many reviews said how big the wrist opening was, and was still warm. Overall warmth wasnt an issue as it only gets down to ~50 here in SoCal, just needed something to cut the wind on the fun days.
I’ll report back once i’ve used them
The open palmed gloves Marshall linked are interesting too. To anyone who has used those, how does the feel compare to no gloves? I see the benefit of having palm contact, but I feel like my fingers do a lot of the paddle control as well.
The NRS Veno Pog-Mitts just came in. I’ll see if I can try them out later today as I can see some areas of liquid on the Hudson today. Or, perhaps I’ll just putter around the harbor.
I was out paddling tonight and wished they were here! ~56* water, 55* air, 25mph wind. Took like 30 minutes to get to my usual bouy and 10 minutes to get back, great surfing on the downwind though.
Well I’ve been out paddling a couple times now with the HyperHands.
The wrist openings are very large indeed. Certainly large enough to slip a wetsuit or drysuit with under layers through easily. you’d need Lou Ferigno’s hands to have any problems with the opening
The paddle shaft openings are slightly small as others commented in some reviews. Not terribly small, but the velcro is only 50% overlapped
They were plenty warm for 50* air, 55* water, 20mph wind. My hands were sweaty after a good 15 minute interval
The inside is just a touch small for my hands. Not terrible, but slightly small. I typically wear size Large gloves for reference.
The neoprene does not get waterlogged or heavy, also they do not evaporatively cool down
The wind does not really penetrate inside the pogie and I think it would be comfortable another 10-15* cooler
Bought some Hyperhands too after reading this thread.
The opening is large enough for me to wear a pair of thin neoprene mitts, “folded back” over the lower part of my arm. (The mitts come with a hole in the palm, so this is possible.) I needed that, since I almost always wear the mitts this way at winter when they are not in use.
I agree that the opening for the paddle shaft is small. I haven’t yet tried with my greenland paddle, but I suppose that I will get a somewhat lousy fit of the velcro.
